PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Small molecule could have big impact on cancer

2013-05-29
(Press-News.org) Dr. Jung-Mo Ahn, associate professor of chemistry at The University of Texas at Dallas, has designed and synthesized a novel small molecule that might become a large weapon in the fight against prostate cancer.

In a study published online May 28 in the journal Nature Communications, Ahn and his colleagues at UT Southwestern Medical Center describe the rational design of the molecule, as well as laboratory tests that show its effectiveness at blocking the cancer-promoting function of proteins called androgen receptors.

Androgen receptors are found inside cells and have complex surfaces with multiple "docking points" where various proteins can bind to the receptor. Each docking point has a unique shape, so only a correctly shaped molecule will fit.

Androgen hormones, such as testosterone, are the primary molecules that bind to androgen receptors. Such binding sets off a chain of events that activates several different processes in the human body, including stimulating the development and maintenance of male characteristics.

Looking for a new approach to battle prostate cancer, Ahn and his colleagues keyed in on blocking a critical docking point on the androgen receptor.

"When a tumor is trying to grow, activation of this location provides what the tumor needs," Ahn said. "There are other surfaces on the androgen receptor that are free to continue working with their respective proteins and to continue functioning. We sought to block only one set of interactions that contribute to prostate cancer growth. That's why we thought our approach might lead to potent efficacy with fewer side effects."

Using computer-assisted molecular modeling, Ahn designed a helix-mimicking small molecule that fits precisely into a pocket on the androgen receptor that is associated with prostate cancer. Collaborating with senior study author Dr. Ganesh Raj, associate professor of urology at UT Southwestern and a specialist in treating urologic cancers, the researchers tested the compound in animal and isolated human tissue. Without exhibiting noticeable toxicity, the compound prevented the androgen receptor from recruiting its protein partners and it blocked the growth of prostate cancer cells.

"We have shown that our molecule binds very tightly, targeting the androgen receptor with very high affinity," Ahn said. "We also have confirmed that it inhibits androgen function in these cells, which is a promising finding for drug development. We showed that it does work through these mechanisms, and it is as effective in inhibiting the proliferation of prostate cancer cells as other compounds currently in clinical trials."

Ahn plans to continue his research to better understand how the small molecule and related compounds he developed work against cancer on a molecular level. He said much work is left to do before any potential drugs or treatment might be developed, but added "this is an exciting start."

About 239,000 men are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S. in 2013 and about 30,000 will die of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. INFORMATION:

Researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong University, the University of Adelaide and the Hanson Institute also contributed to the work. The research was funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Durden Foundation, the Dorothy and James Cleo Thompson Foundation, the Robert A. Welch Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Cancer Council of South Australia, Cancer Australia, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

GOJO presents electronic hand hygiene compliance study at APIC conference

2013-05-29
AKRON, Ohio, (May 28, 2013) – GOJO Industries, a leader in hand hygiene and skin health and inventors of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer, will present its scientific research study, "Impact of Electronic Monitoring and a Hand Hygiene Improvement Program on Compliance Rates" at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Conference, June 8-10, 2013. Sarah Edmonds, M.S., senior clinical scientist at GOJO lead the study. The research was conducted on two units of an acute care facility in Fort Worth, Texas from June – October 2012 using GOJO SMARTLINKTM ...

Diamonds, nanotubes find common ground in graphene

2013-05-29
What may be the ultimate heat sink is only possible because of yet another astounding capability of graphene. The one-atom-thick form of carbon can act as a go-between that allows vertically aligned carbon nanotubes to grow on nearly anything. That includes diamonds. A diamond film/graphene/nanotube structure was one result of new research carried out by scientists at Rice University and the Honda Research Institute USA, reported today in Nature's online journal Scientific Reports. The heart of the research is the revelation that when graphene is used as a middleman, ...

Simple 'frailty' test predicts death, hospitalization for kidney dialysis patients

2013-05-29
Johns Hopkins scientists report that a 10-minute test for "frailty" first designed to predict whether the elderly can withstand surgery and other physical stress could be useful in assessing the increased risk of death and frequent hospitalization among kidney dialysis patients of any age. In a study described in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and published online yesterday, the Johns Hopkins investigators said dialysis patients deemed frail by the simple assessment were more than twice as likely to die within three years, and much more likely to be hospitalized ...

Disabled patients who can't afford their meds come to the ER more

2013-05-29
WASHINGTON — Disabled Medicare patients under the age of 65 who don't take their prescription medications because of cost concerns are more likely to have at least one emergency department visit during a one-year period. The results of a new study are published online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("The Relationship Between Emergency Department Use and Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence Among Medicare Beneficiaries"). "Poverty and disability increase the risk that patients don't take their medicine because of the cost, which can lead to avoidable hospitalizations," ...

Women donate less to charity than men in some contexts

2013-05-29
Given the chance, women are more likely than men to dodge an opportunity to donate to charity, a group of economists have found. The issue of which gender is more generous has been debated for years. A new field experiment conducted by scholars at the University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley shows that when it's easy to avoid making a donation, such as not responding to a door-to-door solicitor, women are less likely than men to give. The results of the study are published in the article, "The Importance of Being Marginal: Gender Differences in Generosity," ...

Changing gut bacteria through diet affects brain function, UCLA study shows

2013-05-29
UCLA researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women, they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task. The study, conducted by scientists with UCLA's Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress and the Ahmanson–Lovelace Brain Mapping Center at UCLA, appears in the June edition ...

Penn-led research maps historic sea-level change on the New Jersey coastline

2013-05-29
Hurricane Sandy caught the public and policymakers off guard when it hit the United States' Atlantic Coast last fall. Because much of the storm's devastation was wrought by flooding in the aftermath, researchers have been paying attention to how climate change and sea-level rise may have played a role in the disaster and how those factors may impact the shoreline in the future. A new study led by the University of Pennsylvania's Benjamin P. Horton, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, relied upon fossil records of marshland to reconstruct ...

OHSU scientists advance understanding of brain receptor; may help fight neurological disorders

2013-05-29
PORTLAND, Ore. — For several years, the pharmaceutical industry has tried to develop drugs that target a specific neurotransmitter receptor in the brain, the NMDA receptor. This receptor is present on almost every neuron in the human brain and is involved in learning and memory. NMDA receptors also have been implicated in several neurological and psychiatric conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and depression. But drug companies have had little success developing clinically effective drugs that target this receptor. Now, researchers ...

Immigration status affects educational achievement

2013-05-29
Mexican American mothers' formal immigration status affects the educational achievement of their children and even their grandchildren, according to a study written by Penn State and University of California, Irvine, sociologists and released by the US2010 Project at Brown University. Based on a large-scale survey of second-generation Mexican young adults in Los Angeles, the study finds that those whose mothers were authorized immigrants or U.S. citizens averaged more than two years more schooling than those whose mothers entered the country illegally. The researchers ...

Older Texans embracing divorce in greater numbers

2013-05-29
Older Texans embracing divorce in greater numbers Article provided by Law Office of Nancy H. Boler Visit us at http://www.bolerlaw.com According to a study entitled, "The Gray Divorce Revolution," divorce among older adults in the United States has doubled since the new millennium began. This is at a higher rate than predicted and the new trend, referred to as gray divorce, is expected to continue increasing. In Texas, legal professionals are seeing a rise in the number of older people going through divorce as well. Experts in law and psychology offer ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New strategies to enhance chiral optical signals unveiled

Cambridge research uncovers powerful virtual reality treatment for speech anxiety

2025 Gut Microbiota for Health World Summit to spotlight groundbreaking research

International survey finds that support for climate interventions is tied to being hopeful and worried about climate change

Cambridge scientist launches free VR platform that eliminates the fear of public speaking

Open-Source AI matches top proprietary model in solving tough medical cases

Good fences make good neighbors (with carnivores)

NRG Oncology trial supports radiotherapy alone following radical hysterectomy should remain the standard of care for early-stage, intermediate-risk cervical cancer

Introducing our new cohort of AGA Future Leaders

Sharks are dying at alarming rates, mostly due to fishing. Retention bans may help

Engineering excellence: Engineers with ONR ties elected to renowned scientific academy

New CRISPR-based diagnostic test detects pathogens in blood without amplification

Immunotherapy may boost KRAS-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer

Growing solar: Optimizing agrivoltaic systems for crops and clean energy

Scientists discover how to reactivate cancer’s molecular “kill switch”

YouTube influencers: gaming’s best friend or worst enemy?

uOttawa scientists use light to unlock secret of atoms

NJIT mathematician to help map Earth's last frontier with Navy grant

NASA atmospheric wave-studying mission releases data from first 3,000 orbits

‘Microlightning’ in water droplets may have sparked life on Earth

Smoke from wildland-urban interface fires more deadly than remote wildfires

What’s your body really worth? New AI model reveals your true biological age from 5 drops of blood

Protein accidentally lassos itself, helping explain unusual refolding behavior

With bird flu in raw milk, many in U.S. still do not know risks of consuming it

University of Minnesota research team awarded $3.8 million grant to develop cell therapy to combat Alzheimer’s disease

UConn uncovers new clue on what is leading to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and ALS

Resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest – it’s how quickly it is done, rather than who does it

A closer look at biomolecular ‘silly putty’

Oxytocin system of breastfeeding affected in mothers with postnatal depression

Liquid metal-enabled synergetic cooling and charging: a leap forward for electric vehicles

[Press-News.org] Small molecule could have big impact on cancer